Safety and Security

Dr. Jennifer Garcia-Edwardsen, Chief of Schools — **Dr. Jennifer Garcia-Edwardsen**
Chief of Schools
830-643-5704

Wade Ivy, Chief of Schools — **Wade Ivy**
Chief of Schools
830-643-5704

Stephen Brown, NBISD Director of Safety and Security — **Stephen Brown**
NBISD Director of Safety and Security
830-626-5670

Without compromise, the safety and security of our students and staff is our number one priority. This is a difficult standard, no doubt, considering today’s ever changing and evolving world. To ensure we meet the standard our safety protocols and plans are fluid as well, meaning we are constantly evaluating them and adapting them to meet the demands for the safety scenario at hand.

In order to accomplish the above priority, we have added an additional layer of security for all of our campuses. Doors from the entrance to the main office will now be secured and all visitors will need to be admitted into the secure office areas by a staff member.

New Braunfels ISD has also entered into a partnership with the courageous men and women of the New Braunfels Police Department to provide dedicated School Resource Officers on each of our secondary campuses. In addition NBISD has engaged in partnerships

with local law enforcement agencies including the Comal County Sheriff’s Office, Our Constable’s Offices, as well as the New Braunfels Fire Department and EMS. Each of these dedicated emergency services providers routinely circulate through our elementary campuses to foster ongoing lifelong relationships with our students.

NBISD also believes in training our staff on how to react in the event of any emergency on our campuses, or at our facilities. Our staff are trained in CPR, Stop the Bleed, and each campus maintains a Crisis Response Team (CRT) to

provide direction in the event exigent circumstances occur on campus. While our staff’s main focus remains engaging and educating our students, whether in a virtual setting or in in the traditional classroom, NBISD endeavors to ensure they have the knowledge and resources required to help prevent and respond to emergency situations. In order to do so, NBISD follows the Standard Response Protocols as set out by the Texas State School Safety Center and the I Love You Guys Foundation.

Our greatest safety measure, however, is vigilance. If you see something suspicious, or disconcerting, online or in person, please say something. Please report any suspicious activity or suspected dangers to the appropriate authorities immediately.

Important Phone Numbers & Links

New Braunfels Police Department
830-221-4100

Comal County Sheriff’s Office
830-620-3400

Crime Stoppers

Crisis Intervention

Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (MCOT)
Emergency Crisis Line
877-466-0660

National Suicide Prevention LifeLine
1-800-273-8255
Nacional de Prevencion del Suicidio
1-888-628-9454

Connections 24hr Crisis Hotline
800-532-8192

New Braunfels Police Victim Services
Crime Victim Liaison:
830-221-4574

Victim of Sexual Assault: What to do
Contact Crisis Center of Comal County
800-500-6666

Community Resources

Crisis Center of Comal County (CCCC)
Crisis Line 830-620-4357
1-800-434-8013

Hill Country MHDD (Mental Health and Developmental Disability)
830-792-3300

MAPNB (Mental Advocacy Partners) – New Braunfels

National Human Trafficking Resources Center and hotline
1-888-3737-888 OR text be free to 233733

River City Advocacy
830-643-0200

Cyber Safety and Digital Responsibility: A Parent's Guide

Keeping our kids safe and secure is something we should all collaborate to accomplish, and we should all have in common. With the advancements in technology and the speed of life, the internet has become a blessing and a curse. With that said, the NBISD Department of Safety and Security would like to provide you with resources to help navigate some of the issues you may face with your child regarding cyber safety in an ever-evolving digital world.

The Texas State School Safety Center realizes this as well, and has partnered with Safer Schools Together to provide parents with some insights on cyber security and digital safety with a training video: Cyber Safety and Digital Responsibility: A Parent's Guide. This 90 minute video provides some details on both the positive and negative ways youth are using, and may be misusing, technology and social media. This information can help inform and empower parents to engage in productive and useful conversations with their kids on how to safely navigate the challenges in our digital world.

Department Functions

Serve as a liaison between public safety partners for the district (police, fire, EMS and other entities)
Develop and maintain a Multi-Hazard Emergency Operations Plan for the District
Develop and maintain Campus based and Facility specific Multi-Hazard Emergency Operations Plans for all NBISD campuses and facilities
Serve as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the district
Manage and serve on the District Safety and Security Committee
Perform regular Campus Safety Audits
Perform and ensure improvement in emergency response drills (i.e. fire, lockdown, lockout, hold, shelter, and evacuation)
Provide training and other items necessary to ensure the safety and security of all partners of NBISD

Security Initiatives

Because of the nature of our security initiatives, we can only mention some of them:

Standard Response Protocol (SRP)
Student and Staff ID Badges
Over the two years, NBISD has spent millions of dollars on a layered approach to campus safety including the installation of secure entrances and vestibules, traffic control bollards, and adding sophisticated security cameras throughout our schools
Local Law Enforcement Partnerships
Safety & Security Committee

Standard Response Protocol

A critical ingredient in the safe school recipe is the uniform classroom response to an incident at school. Weather events, fires, accidents, intruders and other threats to student safety are scenarios that are planned and trained for by school and district administration and staff.

Historically, schools have taken this scenario-based approach to respond to hazards and threats. It’s not uncommon to find a stapled sheaf of papers or even a tabbed binder in a teacher’s desk that describes a variety of things that might happen and the specific response to each event.

SRP IS ACTION BASED

The Standard Response Protocol is based not on individual scenarios but on the response to any given scenario. Like the Incident Command System (ICS), SRP demands a specific vocabulary but also allows for great flexibility. The premise is simple – there are five specific actions that can
be performed during an incident. When communicating these actions, the action is labeled with a “Term of Art” and is then followed by a “Directive”. Execution of the action is performed by active participants, including students, staff, teachers and first responders.

These specific actions can act as both a verb and a noun. If the action is Lockdown, it would be announced on public address as “Lockdown! Locks, Lights, Out of Sight.” Communication to local Law Enforcement Agency would then be “We are under Lockdown.”
Each response has specific student and staff action. The

Evacuate response is always followed by a location: “Evacuate to the Bus Zone.” Responses can also be chained. For instance, “Evacuate to Hallway. Shelter for Tornado. Drop, Cover and Hold.”

“REMAIN IN YOUR ROOM OR AREA. CLEAR THE HALLS.”

HOLD is followed by a location such as “in your room or area” and is used to clear a specific area, or hallways, in order to manage a situation.

"GET INSIDE. LOCK OUTSIDE DOORS.”

SECURE (LOCKOUT) is followed by: “Get Inside. Lock outside doors” and is the protocol used to safeguard students and staff within the building when there is a nearby threat.

“LOCKS, LIGHTS, OUT OF SIGHT.”

LOCKDOWN is followed by “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight” and is the protocol used to secure individual rooms and keep students quiet and in place when there is a threat inside the building.

“EVACUATE TO A LOCATION.”

EVACUATE is followed by a location, and is used to move students and staff from one location to a different location in or out of the building when the building needs to be cleared.

“SHELTER FOR HAZARD USING A SAFETY STRATEGY.”

SHELTER is always followed by the hazard and a safety strategy and is the protocol for group and self-protection.

Crime Stoppers - Anonymous Reporting

Crime Stoppers covers New Braunfels ISD campuses, giving students a way to anonymously report criminal activity.

The “P3 Tips” mobile app utilized by the Comal County Crime Stoppers (CCCS) is also pre-loaded for easy use on all NBISD’s secondary students school-issued iPads.

P3 Tips Public, Police, Private Sector Working Together to Solve and Prevent Crime

To submit a tip, students simply select the school where the offense occurred and provide any other details available including the option to upload a video, photo, audio file or document. The drop down menu for the anonymous reporting program allows a student to provide a tip for dozens of offenses including, but not limited to: mental health issues, drugs, theft, weapons, fights, vaping, e-cigarettes, vandalism and burglary.

Students are being encouraged to ‘Say Something’ by either using the app, calling the 24-hour hotline or contacting a teacher, School Resource Officer or campus administrator.

To submit a tip:

Go online to
comalcrimestoppers.org.

Call
830-620 TIPS (8477)
or 1-800-640-8422
(24 hours a day/7 days a week)

Download the P3 Tips mobile app

iWatchTexas School Safety website:

If you are a community member, but are not a parent of a student with access to the P3 app, please report any possible criminal activity here.

Emergency Communications

We strive to make sure that every parent/guardian has the most accurate and timely information regarding emergency situations, school closures and weather alerts. We encourage parents to provide up-to-date contact information to the school in order to allow for proper notification during an emergency.

Facebook

Twitter

e-Blast Newsletters (sign-up)

ParentSquare

Several channels are utilized to communicate these notifications. Our primary tool is our mass-notification system ParentSquare. The information distributed through ParentSquare comes directly from the contact information provided to the school during registration. We will utilize the following methods to disburse information:

Phone Call
Email
SMS Text Messaging
Social Media

Raptor Visitor Management Alerts

Identification is required by all campus visitors. The visitor management system scans the offender databases alerting campus staff to a possible match. The campus administrator has final authority as to controlling access on their campus.

Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect

Anyone who suspects that a child has been or may be abused or neglected has a legal responsibility to report to law enforcement or Child Protective Services (CPS).

Any District employee, agent, or contractor has an additional legal obligation to submit a report to law enforcement or CPS, as applicable, within 48 hours of when the person first suspects that the child has been or may be abused or neglected. Failure to report suspected child abuse or neglect is a criminal offense. Do not try to investigate suspicions; a trained investigator will evaluate the child’s situation.
You cannot delegate this responsibility to another person. All persons who suspect child abuse or neglect must make their report.

Safe Gun Storage Saves Lives, Help protect our kids, prevent accidents, and keep our guns from criminals.

Follow these 3 Steps to Safe Gun Storage

Store Firearms
Store unloaded and secured by using a trigger lock, biometric lock, gun case, strong box, gun cabinet or gun safe.
Store Ammunition
Store and lock ammunition safely.
Restrict Access
Keep others from getting access to stored firearms 24/7. That includes family, friends, children, or other visitors.

Learn more here

View Parent Letter Here

Download Parent Letter Template Here

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